NoVA VSTARS online?

[HankFrank]

I just started playing with Pro96Com ... sweet little program

connected to Fork Mtn, under adjacent site info it shows site 117-Fairfax as Failed ... so i think its safe to assume that the Fairfax tower is down completely for the time being

Thanks for verifying. Yeah Pro96 is pretty interesting. I'm still somewhat of a newb at it but it makes it easy to figure out a lot of things.

I was mostly sure the tower was really down and not QSY'ed, because a week or so ago I did some limit searches of the frequency range STARS operates in and was unable to come up with anything...

And before Fairfax went down, it was connected to Fork Mtn pretty much 24/7 so if Fork sees it as failed then it's a good bet it's really down.

 

[HankFrank]

I'm hearing testing on the "VSP Ffx 1" talkgroup (65) right now. It appears to be coming from both the Fork Mountain and Thornburg towers. Fairfax tower is still down.

It looks like they may have bumped up the power on Fork Mountain as I'm getting way better decodes from it than I usually do.

 

[pogbobo]

I'm hearing testing on the "VSP Ffx 1" talkgroup (65) right now. It appears to be coming from both the Fork Mountain and Thornburg towers. Fairfax tower is still down.

It looks like they may have bumped up the power on Fork Mountain as I'm getting way better decodes from it than I usually do.

I was just getting on to post the same thing.. fork mtn seems to be decoding the same for me, still can't get thornburg from here w/o my big antenna on a pole

i'm guessing the guy with the heavy accent is a tech? I'm glad they are progressing!

 

[HankFrank]

I was just getting on to post the same thing.. fork mtn seems to be decoding the same for me, still can't get thornburg from here w/o my big antenna on a pole

i'm guessing the guy with the heavy accent is a tech? I'm glad they are progressing!

Well I moved to Springfield recently and can now decode Fork Mtn. For the first several days I was getting a decode percentage anywhere between 60-75% but today it's in the high 90% range topping out at 99%. So I dunno, could just be something fluky. I have heard a lot of chatter on the Radio Tech TG so maybe they are out in full-force doing who knows what. I wish they talked about more technical stuff on that TG but it usually consists of things like where they are eating lunch.

Regarding the testing, yeah I guess the guy with the accent is a tech. It sounds to me like they have a batch of new radios they are testing one-by-one for possible install in Division 7.

 

[MOTORHEAD3902]

i'm guessing the guy with the heavy accent is a tech? I'm glad they are progressing!

Russian?

 

[tglendye]

Russian?

Maybe. I was listening too, but not sure.

 

[pogbobo]

Russian?

that was my first thought, but I don't know for sure

 

[MOTORHEAD3902]

Not having heard it, i cannot say for certain, however we do have a tech with a pronounced Russian accent. Heck of a nice feller.

 

[HankFrank]

When I heard it I thought it could possibly be Eastern European (such as Russian) or possibly far eastern (Indian etc.) The volume was very low, it almost sounded as if the individual was speaking through several layers of cloth. Maybe he is just shy and doesn't like half the state hearing him on the radio.

 

[SCPD]

Stars

STARS may be online in 2nd and 7th divisions in May. The Fairfax tower was online shortly when firmware upgrades were being done in December. Only certain talkgroups may be enabled on Independent Hill, Columbia Pike, and Fairfax (such as Maintenance 1) for the time being.

 

[pogbobo]

is Columbia Pike in Arlington? if so, I don't see a tower listed near there??

 

[HankFrank]

is Columbia Pike in Arlington? if so, I don't see a tower listed near there??

That's site 19

 

[pogbobo]

whoops, I was going by the FCC map

thx

 

[HankFrank]

whoops, I was going by the FCC map

thx

NP

Attached is a KMZ file you can open in Google Earth that shows all of the STARS sites, plus the other sites the VSP uses. In Google Earth you can select which layers you want to view on the sidebar, so you can omit the conventional sites if you don't want to see them.

Just change the file extension from "txt" to "kmz" after you download it and you should be good to go. I think I found this in another thread on this forum.

Also, thanks for the info SCPD.

 

[pogbobo]

I knew there was a Google earth file out there somewhere, I used to have one, but I don't think it was this up to date...

thanks HankFrank

and thanks SCPD

 

[pogbobo]

anybody else hearing the Chesapeake (ID 51) traffic on Fork Mtn?

I fired up Pro96Com but nothing looks out of the ordinary, no extra towers affiliated, no patches ... how can this be?

 

[HankFrank]

anybody else hearing the Chesapeake (ID 51) traffic on Fork Mtn?

I fired up Pro96Com but nothing looks out of the ordinary, no extra towers affiliated, no patches ... how can this be?

Can't pull in Fork right now (it is hit and miss for me) but I have heard Chesapeake on it and on Thornburg before.

It's not unheard of for a radio affiliated with one of the distant talkgroups to wander into range of a tower up north from time-to-time.

As long as Fork is connected to one of the sites in or near division 5 (or daisy-chained to one,) then a radio programmed with one of the division 5 talkgroups affiliates with Fork, you will hear that talkgroup.

For example, say Fork is connected to one of the Richmond sites (it usually is I think) and then Richmond is connected to Petersburg, and then Petersburg is connected to Emporia or Williamsburg. Since the sites are daisy-chained they are essentially connected from end-to-end and can exchange data from one end to the other. Then if a radio programmed with Chesapeake talkgroups wanders into the coverage area of Fork mountain and affiliates, then Fork will become active on those talkgroups.

It could be anything from a trooper on special assignment on the other side of the state to a radio accidentally being switched on and left in a closet somewhere.

 

[W4UVV]

Enjoy them now

Division 5 VSP dispatch/mobile comms, excluding TAC, have been relayed through Division 1 sites for some months now. Fork Mtn. is a Division 2 STARS site as is Thornburg but initially were included as Division 1 installation sites possibly initially to provide desired coverage to selected areas of the state. These are the good old days. Enjoy them now as one day in the future affiliation switching will be implemented and these relayed comms will cease as will the analog simulcasted comms.

 

[HankFrank]

Lots of NOVA towers now up and running today. From Springfield I can now hear:

Arlington (119)
Thornburg (106) was already active
Fork Mtn (107) was already active (weak)
Fairfax (117) was active for testing in December then taken down
Independent Hill (118)

So it looks like Indy Hill, Fairfax and Arlington were brought up recently.

There is also lots of testing going on today on the Radio Mnt 2 Channel (6158)

 

[fmon]

Lots of NOVA towers now up and running today. From Springfield I can now hear:

Arlington (119)
Thornburg (106) was already active
Fork Mtn (107) was already active (weak)
Fairfax (117) was active for testing in December then taken down
Independent Hill (118)

So it looks like Indy Hill, Fairfax and Arlington were brought up recently.

There is also lots of testing going on today on the Radio Mnt 2 Channel (6158)

Been hearing 6158 and 6159 for several days but couldn't tell where they were or what they were testing.
6158 is team 1 & 3 while 6159 is team 2 & 4.